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Nestled inside rich red velvet drizzled with dark and milk chocolate, a delectable cream cheese bursts with unexpected and delightful flavors. This cookie, along with many other incredible desserts, starred in a Chocolate Buffet Fund Raiser that I chaired this past weekend to raise money for local food and fuel charities. Nestled inside enterprise and legacy rich Maximo, the unexpected, powerful Report Viewer application waits for you. This application was introduced in Maximo Version 7.5, along with many other notable report features... [More]

I dissected our kitchen junk drawer this weekend. Although I’m not a hoarder , I did find a 41 golf pencils , $1.53 in Change and and 3 postcard stamps! While on this clearing spree, today’s Bilog dissects how QBR reports are stored in the database to clear up any confusion you may have. QBR, or Ad Hoc reports, enable you to create reports ‘on the fly’ without technical database or report development skills. In this previous BiLog entry, best practices were reviewed to detail which specific users you may want to grant QBR security... [More]

Abstract : This tutorial describes the new asynchronous data
validation functionality in IBM Maximo Enterprise Asset Management 7.5.
Besides, it shows how to enable/disable this functionality (that is enabled, by
default) to all the applications, or how to select only specific applications
to be enabled/disabled. Enterprises demand processes that
help their teams become more efficient. Thinking about that, Maximo 7.5 has
additional tools to guarantee that each task is completed with the minimum
amount of time and effort. One of these... [More]

It’s stalagmites reaching over a winding river into the mountains of Arizona. It’s a family of dolphins laughing. It’s a cool rock in the woods. Remember stopping to really take a look at something – whether it was a rock or a cloud – and everyone would guess what they saw? We don’t want you to guess what TCR is, so today’s Bilog will review what it is and how you can enable it. TCR stands for Tivoli Common Reporting. Beginning with the Maximo 7.1.1.6 released in December 2009, an integration to the Cognos Reporting Products was... [More]

Everyone is different. Different physical characteristic like heights, weights, skin tones, and eyes combined with varied backgrounds, skills, beliefs and multiple other characteristics make each person unique. I love going to large events like baseball games where you see massive numbers of diverse individuals - sharing a similar interest. Likewise, your Version 7 users are similar in that they use Maximo, but they are each unique individuals with a broad range of skills sets and job requirements. Because of this diversity, you should... [More]

I found $1.36 in my pocket this weekend. After experiencing mixed emotions of where did this come from and why don’t I remember to take money out of my pocket – I settled on the thrill of finding something unexpected as I detailed here last year. You also may find something unexpected in Maximo with the Report Update utilities. These utilities were introduced in June 2010, and have been enhanced in the Maximo 7.5.0.3 release . In this release, there are now two report update utilities available for Page Break and Auto Layout. Both... [More]

My relationship with my alarm clock is complex. Like my love-hate relationship with our office printer, I have implemented a system to smooth the abruptness of our interactions. The actual time on the alarm is set to a time that I would like to see when I wake up – not the actual time. This false alarm clock time has been derived over years and years of wake ups, and is not a simple value of 1 or 2 hours ahead. However, when its loud alarm this morning caused me to go thru the multiple mathematical calculations to derive the actual... [More]

Do you send postcards when you travel? Our family has a yearly competition to see who can send the best postcard, and I’m currently in the lead, with a postcard sent from here – the littlest post office in the United States. This postcard to the left is one of my favorites - sent back in June 1912, from the Rocky River in Cleveland, Ohio to one of my relatives in Buffalo, New York. Don’t wait to send those postcards whether you are traveling for vacation or for work – and also don’t wait to upgrade to Maximo 7503 with its incredible... [More]

Are we there yet? Even with a GPS depicting the exact minute of our arrival, I heard (and thought!) these same words multiple times over the course of driving our 1246 mile adventure these last four days! You may hear these same words as you may travel with your family this summer, and you may also wonder if we are there yet with reporting in Maximo. As noted in the July 2012 Maximo Report Upgrade Session referenced here , reporting has evolved tremendously over the last 12 years from its initial focus on architecture to its current focus... [More]

Spurred by the quest to enable our client’s additional functionality and coached by Agile processes, the 7503 development team introduced the Maximo 7503 release on July 20, 2012! This enabled a repeat team performance highlighted last year with the Maximo 7.5 release . One of the largest components on the 7503 release, were major updates to Maximo Reporting . The embedded reporting tool, BIRT, was upgraded from Version 2.3.2 to 3.7.1, and a new Direct Integration Option to Cognos 10.1.1 was enabled. Over the next few weeks, we’ll detail... [More]

Excuse me….can you toss me a life line? These words gushed out of my mouth as we biked up the steep summit of Champlain Mountain in Acadia National Park in the blistering July heat. But with my family well in the distance…my words were soon lost amongst the magnificent trees and rocks surrounding me. However, your words and feedback on Maximo reporting are not lost. You have continually requested more information on functionality, best practices and customizations - - and we are continuing to build up that information for you. Recently,... [More]

Do you make lists? Lists of things to do at work or home? Lists of items to pick up when you’re out running errands, or lists of songs to download? I love making lists, and I love them even better when I cross off things I’ve completed! In the spirit of lists, we’ve compiled a listing of key report property settings and cron tasks for you in this wiki page here . These settings are applicable thru the Version 7.5.0.2 release for BIRT Reporting. You can then download the... [More]

Neodydium. This rare earth element comes frequently to my mind on these summer days as both the grass in our yard increases…along with the hours my husband spends on the golf course. Neodydium was introduced to me years ago while leading a development project bringing together two major corporations, focused on creating a technically superior golf sunglass. As a key component of the innovative lens coating, Neodydium enabled the variations of the green to ‘pop’ out to the golfer, and gave me the incredible opportunity to lead a team of... [More]

Large chunks of succulent lobster lightly tossed with chilled mayonnaise and nestled between a sweet-butter grilled hot dog roll. Ahhh….the Lobster Roll…a true New England experience. And as the lobster rolls represents New England Cuisine, one of the most powerful representations of Maximo is its ease of customization . Throughout the BiLog entries, a number of ways you can customize Maximo reporting have been detailed including 1. Record Limits. Defining the maximum records reports can execute against as a performance enabler. 2. ... [More]

I drive a 2006 Silver Honda Pilot. While that may be meaningless to many, my words did generate laughter at the Honda Plant in Marysville, Ohio on Tuesday, May 22nd. I was fortunate to be at the Honda Plant, who was hosting nearly 100 Clients, Business Partners and IBMers for the Maximo Manufacturing User Group Meeting . Honda was an amazing host for the User Group meeting, and started the day by welcoming us to their facility, which will be celebrating its 30th anniversary later this year. Honda kicked off the conference with... [More]